


Requiem for Paternal Love

by havocthecat



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Dead Father - Freeform, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-02-05 11:42:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1817269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havocthecat/pseuds/havocthecat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in the latter part of third season TVD, after Bill Forbes dies. Liz and Caroline grieve together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Requiem for Paternal Love

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [on Dreamwidth](http://havocs-cry.dreamwidth.org/2014/06/20/requiem-for-paternal-love.html). Thanks to cleo for the beta work!

Daddy was lying on the bed. He smelled like a human being - like death - and they were never, ever going to get the smell out. Mom wouldn't notice it, but Mom didn't notice how Caroline had to dump a gallon of bleach down the garbage disposal every week so she didn't have to smell the rotting food stuck in there.

Caroline had stood in the hallway when it happened. He'd told her hadn't wanted her to say goodbye. He hadn't wanted her to see him like that, but he'd forgotten she'd smell him. He didn't really think about the funeral, but he had other things occupying him, like writing a good-bye letter to Steven, and saying good-bye to Mom.

Someone had killed her dad. She couldn't save him and he wouldn't save himself, and now her daddy was dead.

Mom had been with him when he'd faded away - dead again - and then Caroline's eyes had turned black and the skin around them got all tight, which meant they were gross and veiny.

Mom got that worried look that meant she was thinking about where the extra vervain was. And that was okay, it _was_ , Caroline was dangerous and Mom was human and she had to protect herself. Even if Caroline was taking vervain every day and working up to a bigger dose, because if she didn't, Rebekah would be walking all over her and taking over the cheerleading squad. And the planning committees.

It was Klaus' fault any of this was happening. Stupid, scary, obsessive stalker boy Klaus, who fell in love with a girl who looked like Elena a thousand years ago and who couldn't stop treating Caroline's best friend like his own personal toy. So he went after Katherine, who killed Caroline and that made sure Caroline couldn't stop seeing her own death every time she looked at Elena's face.

Except it was really Esther and Mikael's fault, because they did this to their kids, and the way that it made Caroline feel sorry for the Originals made Caroline hate everyone all the more.

She had to get out. She had to go, and before she realized it, she'd sped down the stairs, flung open the door. The phone was ringing, but she ignored it. The air was cold on her skin. That was right, but the stars were bright in the sky. There shouldn't be stars. Not tonight. There shouldn't be anything so beautiful while she was so sad.

No one was near except her Mom, moving slow - like a human's speed, not a vampire's, and oh God her mom was human, she was going to die someday - and Mom was standing on the porch behind her.

"Caroline!" Mom sounded worried. Of course she was. If the street hadn't been deserted this time of night, Caroline would have some serious compelling to do. "Come inside."

"Daddy's dead." Caroline stayed where she was, looking up at the stars. If there was Heaven - and she was seriously doubting it these days - she didn't know if Daddy would be there. Or if she would see him there. She'd stopped going to church a long time ago, when they told Daddy he wasn't welcome there.

"I know." Mom's eyes were full of tears. Why hadn't Caroline noticed Mom walking in front of her?

"Steven's going to be sad." Caroline was choked up about that. Steven and Daddy were really in love. Would Steven still be her stepdad? He and Daddy had gone to Vermont a couple years ago so they could get married. But he didn't want Steven to come to Mystic Falls. He wanted to protect Steven from the vampires the way he'd never protected Mom or Caroline.

"Of course he is," said Mom.

" _You're_ sad." Mom had been non-stop sad for two days.

"Of course I am." The phone in the house rang and rang. Mom ignored it and Caroline realized she'd forgotten about it. "So are you."

Mom wrapped her arms around Caroline and held on tight. Caroline held her mom, clinging to her, but she had to be careful. She couldn't risk breaking her mom's ribs. She couldn't even hold her mom the way she wanted to.

Caroline, right at this very moment, hated everyone around her. _Everyone._ Except Mom, who loved her even though she was a vampire. Who was the only one left, or maybe the only one ever, who loved Caroline for being Caroline. Who loved her as a human and Caroline as a vampire.

She choked out a bitter laugh that turned into a sob, and her mom pulled back to stare at her. "Oh, Mom."

"I know, sweetie." Her mom stepped back and gestured to the house with a clumsy, aborted gesture. Her mom, the badass town sheriff, but totally awkward when it came to Caroline and emotions. It was normal. It was the only normal thing about tonight. "Let's go inside. I have some phone calls to make."

When she went upstairs, Daddy was still lying on the bed. He'd faded out of his body, into death, and Caroline still couldn't cry. Maybe she would at the funeral, if Damon wasn't there, if Stefan kept him away.

Red filled Caroline's vision and she sped into her bedroom to get her purse.

"Where are you going?" asked Mom. She stood in the doorway, cell phone in one hand, Daddy's overnight bag in the other. She didn't have anyone on the other end. Caroline couldn't hear breathing or a heartbeat.

"I have to get out. I can't be here when the EMTs get here to take Daddy's--" Caroline stopped, swallowed. Breathed deep, just like Stefan - damn him for abandoning her so he could be Klaus' bitch - had taught her. "I can't be here when they take Daddy away."

"I understand." Her mom's face was full of strain, and Caroline felt like a coward for abandoning her. Except she was a coward who didn't want to kill a couple of innocent EMTs. Except she did want to kill them. She wanted to kill everyone around her, and it was wrong. It _was_. "Take this with you. It has some of your father's Founders Council papers. Things that shouldn't be left with just anyone."

Why did her mom trust her like that? If she knew what Caroline was thinking, she wouldn't.

"Okay," said Caroline. "When will they be here?"

"Sooner than you'd think," said Mom. "Go out the back door." She nodded, like there was something inside her that was making her be strong. Caroline wanted to know what that was. Caroline wanted to be strong. Like Mom.

She laughed again, and it turned into a sob again. Caroline wanted to be strong, like Mom. Like Daddy. She couldn't, and besides, Daddy was dead. He couldn't be strong for her any more, so Caroline had to at least pretend to be strong. For Mom. For herself.

Maybe if she pretended to be strong, she could find out how to be strong. Somehow.

When Caroline was halfway down the hall, Daddy's bag and her purse clutched in her white knuckles, her Mom cleared her throat. Caroline turned around and pretended not to see Mom wipe tears out of her eyes. "I love you, Caroline."

She smiled, still sad and still furious at the whole damn world. "I love you too, Mom."

\--end--  



End file.
